Tea Party Leaders: GOP 2012 Presidential Candidates Have Been Disappointing
by STEVE PEOPLES
12/18/11
CONCORD, N.H. — Just a year ago, tea party activists came roaring out of the congressional elections eager to shape the looming race for the White House.
Things have not gone as planned.
Turned off by Mitt Romney's style and evolution on several important issues, they have bounced from one candidate to another in hopes of finding a formidable alternative to the former Massachusetts governor to focus their enthusiasm.
After a series of disappointments – Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and businessman Herman Cain among them – the anti-establishment movement has settled, for now, on a favorite: former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, even though he has spent more than three decades in Washington politics.
With the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3 and tea party support fractured at best, some activists worry that the passion that defined the movement 13 months ago may become lost in the selection of the next president.
Infighting among conservative groups, a growing sense of pragmatism, and glaring weaknesses among the candidates have forced some tea party leaders to acknowledge their limits and shift their attention to Congress.
"I wish that we had coalesced behind one candidate earlier on. It's not because of the tea party movement, it's because there hasn't been that candidate out there so far that has stirred the passion – the fire in the belly," said Amy Kremer, president of the Tea Party Express...
For the full article, go to:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/18/tea-party-gop-2012_n_1156592.html
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